Like Father Like Daughter
by Emme2589
Summary: A Series of One-Shots about Wall-E's daughter, Willow.
1. I Prefer Daddy

Willow crept quietly into the open doorway of the truck, where her father was going through some of his things he stopped to thumb through a book before putting it back. Now was her chance. She just had to be very quiet.

She put her hands around the music box and lifted it carefully, doing her absolute best to not make a sound. She smiled to herself as she slouched away with her new treasure.

"Put it back."

"Ugh!" Willow made a show of slamming the box back onto its shelf, "How did you know I was here!?"

"Your wheels are still squeaky." WALL-E looked up at her from his work, "I thought you went out with your mother to get that fixed."

She didn't respond.

"Lemme guess, you ditched her."

"Daaad!" Willow wined, "It's not fair! I just want to play with you! I don't want to go out with Mom!"

"She just wants what's best for you."

"I don't want to go back to the mechanics shop! It's musty and gross and it smells like oil! I don't care if my wheels are squeaky!"

"If you don't get that fixed, it could cause problems later." WALL-E finished reorganizing his treasures, "It did for me."

Willow kicked at the dust in the truck with her tread, "I don't like Mom."

"Don't say that."

"She isn't fun! She always has to be serious all the time! Why can't she be more like you!?"

"Watch your mouth! That's my wife you're talking about! She has an important job and you know that!"

"But can't she learn to have fun sometimes!?"

WALL-E took a moment to calm himself down before he said something he would regret, "Listen, Willow. Your mother has a sense of humor. I know that more than anyone. She would love to slow down and spend more time with us, but being a captain is serious business. She's just been stressed out lately, that's all."

Willow looked down at the floor.

"There you are!" EVE had arrived, "I was afraid you had been kidnapped!"

WALL-E took EVE's hand, "Listen Evah, don't be too hard on her. She just misses you."

"Hm?" EVE didn't get it at first.

"You're too serious." he explained, "She wants to have fun with you."

"Oh." EVE took Willow's hand, "Come on. I've got the day off tomorrow. We can play then."

She beamed, "For real!?"

EVE giggled, "Come on. Those wheels won't fix themselves!"

"Oh. Right."

WALL-E watched them go with admiration clear in his optics. He had no doubt they'd be on good terms by the end of the day.


	2. Coming Clean

"Oh no..."

Willow stared at the hole in the window with dread.

"We messed up..." Fletcher trembled.

"Hey! Who did this!?"

"Run!"

Fletcher just ran to get away, but Willow ran straight to the truck she lived at with her parents.

"DAD!"

"Huh?" WALL-E spun around until his eyes found her, "What's wrong!?"

"We messed up! We messed up big time!" Willow choked out, "I don't know what to do!"

"What happened!?"

"Me and Fletcher were playing and, and he threw the ball too high and it broke a window!"

"Oh..." WALL-E sighed, "I thought something terrible had happened."

"It _is_ terrible!" Willow sobbed, "It's vandalism! That's illegal!"

"Wil, it was an accident." he explained, "Let's go back and explain. Maybe we can fix the window for them."

"Is that how that works?"

"Yeah. Come on." WALL-E led her back into town, the broken window clearly visible. A policeman had been alerted and the owner of the window was shouting something.

Willow shrunk back in fear.

"It's okay, Wil." WALL-E pulled her along, "It'll be fine."

She doubted that.

"Hm? Oh, hey Wall-E." the man said, "Do you have an explanation for my broken window?"

WALL-E looked back at his daughter, gesturing forward.

"Um..." Willow tapped her fingers together, a habit she'd picked up from her parents, "Me and my friend broke your window...I'm sorry..."

"Oh." his anger immediately dropped, "It's so thoughtful of you to come back and apologize."

Willow looked up, surprised, "Really?"

"We can help fix the window if you like." WALL-E offered.

"Oh no, it's fine. I can fix it myself no problem." he said, "By the way, I don't think we've met?"

"Oh, this is my daughter, Willow."

"Nice to meet you, Willow. You know, your old man is really something."

"I know."

They bid him goodbye and the police left. The window was replaced that same day. As they were walking home, a thought occurred to Willow;

"I wonder where Fletcher went off to."

"He's probably going to get in trouble for not coming clean."

Willow giggled.


	3. Keep Trying

Willow sat on the bridge behind the truck, watching the water far below her. It wasn't a lake yet, but it was getting there. She was mostly trying to hide from her mother, but she hoped to be found by her father.

"Hey, Wil."

Willow swung her treads back and forth, "Hey, Dad."

He sat down next to her, "I hope you're not planning to jump."

"Of course not." Willow replied, "I just want to be away from Mom for awhile."

"Is target practice stressful?"

She gave a gentle nod.

"I see..." he replied, "It's okay. You'll get the hang of it."

"But why do I need to?" Willow stared down into the gulf, "Why is it so important?"

"Because you never know when you'll need to defend yourself. She's just looking out for you."

"You don't have a cannon and you're fine!"

"I have a laser." he brought it out to burn words into the ground, _WALL-E wuz here._

Willow shook her head, "Like that could actually hurt anyone."

"You think having that burned into your eyes wouldn't hurt?"

"But why can't I have that!? It would be so much easier to use! My cannon doesn't have half the strength of Mom's!"

"Yeah you're right, it has more than that."

"Daaad!"

"Okay! Okay, listen." WALL-E put an arm around her, "No one said it'd be easy, only that it'd be worth it. You have a cannon at all, so why not learn how to use it?"

"Hmmm..." Willow looked away, "I just don't want to disappoint anyone..."

"You could never disappoint your mother." WALL-E said matter-of-factly, "Why, she was boasting to her friends the other day that her daughter was the coolest little girl in the galaxy. I understand that the two of you don't always see eye-to-eye, but she loves you so much you could never understand."

Willow was quiet, "Hey, Dad?"

"Hm?"

"I-I want to try again, but not today. I'll try again tomorrow."

WALL-E pulled her into a hug, "That's my girl!"


	4. Tall and Proud

Willow waited on the side of the curb. Fletcher had gone off to be with his friends, so she was all alone today. She only wished she knew how to carry a conversation, but whenever she tried, it came out all wrong. She could speak English and Binary, but she would often get the two confused with each other. The other robots at school tended to avoid her, why exactly she couldn't tell, but she just wanted to be with one of her own again. All these robots were new and silver, she was brown and yellow all over.

"Hey, Wil."

"Dad!" Willow jumped up, "Oh thank goodness! I was worried you wouldn't show up!"

"What? Of course I would." he looked around, "Wasn't your cousin supposed to wait with you?"

"Oh, yeah, um...he left with Darwin..."

"Oh..." WALL-E took her arm, "Well, let's head off then, shall we?"

Willow was excited. WALL-E would always take her treasure hunting after school before she had to do her homework with EVE. It was her favorite part of the day by far.

She noticed WALL-E going down a different path, "Um, Dad? Home is this way."

"I know." he replied, "We're going to take the scenic route."

She was skeptical, "Why?"

"Just because." he kept going, "Come on."

She didn't recognize this street, but WALL-E kept going confidently, so she only hoped he knew where he was taking her. The Axiom came into view once they left the city and kept going.

"Why are we going this way?" Willow asked, "I thought the Axiom was abandoned."

"It is. We're not going to the Axiom." he said, stopping, "Here."

"Huh? What's..." she trailed off when she saw. An oak tree, bigger than all the other trees there. It had lots of grass and bushes growing around it along with other trees, but the oak stood tall and proud.

"Dad? What's this?"

He was looking at the tree with such fondness, "This tree is a symbol of me and your mother..."

"What? Wait! This is that plant from your story!?"

"The very same." he reached out to touch the rough bark, "I remember you..."

"The one you carried in a boot!? And, and then you died and Mom saved you with it!?"

WALL-E's buzzing laugh rang in the air, "Something like that, yes."

"Okay, that's cool an' all, but, why did you bring me here?"

"Because..." he looked up into the leaves of the majestic oak, "I wanted to give you a break."

"A break? From what?"

He looked at her like it was obvious, "From them."

What?

"Look, I get it. It's hard for you to get along with everyone. They don't understand you, you don't make sense to them." he said simply, "But they just can't see you for who you are. They can't understand how beautiful you really are."

"What? That doesn't even make any sense!"

WALL-E buzzed, "I didn't think it would. But listen, you see this tree? It used to be a plant. It was in the wasteland outside of the borders, defying how dangerous it was, and it came out and grew. It was in the dark. No one could see it. It was hidden. No one even knew it was there." he explained, "But then, I found it. It stuck out in my vision for how green it was, and I took it with me back home. I knew it was special, but I didn't know why at the time." he looked at her to make sure she was getting it, "Now I do, and now everyone knows and appreciates it for what it is."

"What does that have to do with me?" Willow asked incredulously.

"Bear with me here for a second." he replied, "You're like the plant, and those other robots at the learning facility are like humanity. I understand how amazing you are, but no one else can see it for what it is. The only other one who knew about the plant and of how important it was was your mother, she can see it too." he pulled her forward, holding her hands, "But one day, you'll stand tall and proud. Everyone will look at you with admiration, everyone will see how special you are. You will be the tree among the grass and flowers." he looked back at the tree, "Just like this majestic oak."

"Dad..." Willow frowned, "You don't really believe that...?"

"I believed in the plant, and look at it now!" he replied cheerfully.

Willow did notice how the tree looked. Tall and proud.

"You think I could be like that?"

"I know you can, Wil!" WALL-E said confidently, "I know you can, and I know you are. So don't doubt yourself, okay?"

She gave him a crushing hug, "Thank you, Daddy..."

He nuzzled her gently, "Of course."

ooo

 **This one is one of my favorites. I can't wait to watch WALL-E again with this mindset. X3**


	5. The Bullies

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Didya hear that? She wants it back!"

"Stop! Give it to me!"

Willow was trying to get her dad's eye back, after it was stolen by a bunch of bullies on the street. They were human boys, but their stares carried a deadly determination.

"That's my dad's!"

"Oh yeah, Wall-E. He's the reason we're here and not out in space? How great!"

"Stop that! I'm serious!"

"Aw! The robot's gonna cry!"

"Let's watch a robot cry!"

"HEY!"

They froze.

"That's my daughter!" EVE pointed her laser cannon right at them, "Drop the part and get lost!"

They did as they were told, sprinting off into the distance.

"Oh no..." Willow picked up the eye, "It's broken..."

"It's okay, whoa!" WALL-E stumbled forward, "I have plenty more at home."

"But they can't get away with that! They broke it! Aren't we going to do something about that!?"

"They were only boys, and it was just my eye." WALL-E said, finally getting to Willow, "It's not like they got ahold of my solar panels."

"B-but..."

"Hey, Willow." EVE put a hand on her back, "It's okay. We should forgive them."

"Yeah. Holding a grudge against someone doesn't help anyone."

Willow looked at the part in her hand, "But it's broken..."

"We can get plenty more." WALL-E took the broken eye from her, "It's not the end of the world."

"Let's go home, Willow." EVE said gently, "Forget about those boys. They don't matter, okay?"

Willow nodded, "Alright..."

"Good girl." WALL-E let EVE pick him up, "I have no depth perception, sooo..."

Willow and EVE both laughed.


	6. The Confession

"Come on! No one's gonna know!"

"But it's against the law! I have to get home now!"

"But it's only a few..."

Willow was with a kid who wanted to steal from Jonathan's house. He apparently had some really high-end chocolates there that were vintage 2010, and this kid wanted just a taste.

"I'm going in, are you going to come with me?"

Willow shook her head, "I'm going home."

"Fine. Be a wuss." he ducked under Jonathan's windowsill.

Willow felt something settle in the middle of her chamber. She couldn't tell anyone. If she did, the kid would get in trouble, and he could even go to juvenile detention. She didn't want that to happen. He was a nice kid, after all.

She ducked into the truck to see that Hello, Dolly! was on again. WALL-E and EVE turned.

"Willow!" WALL-E sped to her, "Where have you been?"

"Um...I-I was..."

"What's wrong, Sweetie?" EVE asked.

"N-nothing. I was nowhere."

 _Wow. Real smooth, Wil._

"I get the feeling you aren't being entirely honest." WALL-E said, "You can tell us. We won't judge you."

 _"Yeah. They're apparently really old, from 2010 France or something."_

 _"Really!? I have to get a taste!"_

Willow shivered with guilt, "Nothing. I wasn't doing anything, I promise."

WALL-E and EVE looked at each other.

"It's okay, Wil." WALL-E stroked the back of her head, "You don't have to tell us, but it'll give us the peace of mind."

"We don't want you hiding things from us." EVE added.

"I really was doing nothing!" Willow cried, "Really! Just drop it, please!?"

"Okay, it's okay..." WALL-E tried to comfort her, "Shhh..."

"We believe you, okay?" EVE said, "Don't cry!"

How had she lied to her parents!? Why did she lie to them!?

"It's okay..." WALL-E lead her to her shelf by her collected trinkets, "We'll drop it, okay? You don't have to cry..."

Willow kept holding onto her father, still shaking uncontrollably. She let herself get put to bed, her head pressing down into her body with her treads being tucked underneath her.

"There you go. You'll feel better in the morning." WALL-E promised.

* * *

"Jonathan was robbed!" EVE cried.

"What?"

Willow woke up the next morning to lots of commotion. EVE and WALL-E dragged her to the crime scene that morning, which was bustling with activity. Jonathan had a rather small house, but it had a lot of cool stuff in it, and nearly a third of it was taken by the teenage numbskull.

"Who could it have been?" a police officer had said, "We can't find anything!"

Willow sat in the truck, spinning her treads back and forth.

"Willow?" WALL-E picked up on her distress, "What's wrong? Do you know something about this?"

Willow looked away.

"Willow? Sweetheart?"

"I know who did it..."

"You do?" WALL-E sat down next to her, "Can you tell us please?"

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

Willow tapped her treads together, sliding down onto her back, "I don't want them to get in trouble..."

WALL-E sighed, lifting her up so she wasn't on a weird angle, "If you do something wrong, should you have to face the consequences?"

"Um...yes...?"

"So why is it different because you know the person who did it?"

"Um...it's not...?"

"You want Jonathan to have his things back, don't you?"

"Yeah..."

"So...?"

He ended that with a question mark.

"Okay...it was Tommy...you know, from that elementary school?"

"Ah. I see. Thank you for letting us know."

Willow still felt a little bad for doing that, but it was illegal to steal. Tommy would have to learn that.

She leaned into her father, "I'm sorry I didn't stop him..."

"It's fine...he'll be put to justice soon enough." WALL-E smiled at her, "You did the right thing, Wil."

"I did?"

"Yeah. I'm proud of you."

Well, she didn't feel guilty anymore. She felt warmth in the embrace of her dad, "Thanks..."


	7. Keeping Secrets

WALL-E crept into the truck very quietly, trying not to disturb his family. The door hadn't alerted them, thankfully, so he did his absolute best to close the door quietly and get inside before anyone suspected a thing. Hal chirped upon his arrival.

"Sh!" WALL-E unwrapped a sponge cake and dropped it for him, "Here! Just be quiet, okay?"

"Dad...?"

Crap. He'd woken up Willow.

"Go back to sleep." he said quietly.

"Where were you?" she asked tiredly.

"I was just in town. I'm home now, so it's okay."

"Mom was worried sick."

"I know, just go back to sleep."

"Dad..."

"It's fine, alright? Don't alert your mother."

"She's going to find out anyway."

"Sh, just don't worry about it."

She finally gave up, "Whatever. Let's see how long it takes for her to find out."

"Fair enough. Goodnight, Wil."

* * *

WALL-E's solar charge warning was especially loud that morning. It was like an alarm clock, beeping constantly as a sign that WALL-E would be at death's door if he didn't get into the sun.

"Ugh..." EVE woke up before he did, "Good to see you came home."

WALL-E groaned tiredly, pushing his head out of his body.

"Come here."

"No...I can do it..."

EVE was surprised. He always let her carry him out of the truck.

It seemed he underestimated how hard it would be. He dragged himself across the floor, remembering when he did this on a daily basis for 700 years. He finally got to the roof, out of the girls' view.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, I can tell. Something's wrong." she said, "I'll have to talk to him about that."

"Can I make sure he's okay?"

"No. I can do that." she hovered to the roof.

 _Here it goes..._

"Wall-E!?" EVE exclaimed, "WALL-E! WHAT'S HAPPENED TO YOU!?"`

 _That didn't take long at all._ Willow rolled her eyes.

"Willow! We're going to the science lab! Right now!"

"Coming!"

EVE carried her husband all the way there, his battery hanging out of his casing like an organ in the middle of surgery. It looked like he was falling apart.

"Wall-E!" Jonathan raked a hand through his neatly-cut hair, "I told you this would be a problem! Why did you keep this from your family!?"

He looked down shamefully.

"Willow, why aren't you more worried?" EVE said, "Did you know about this or something?"

"Yeah, but he told me to keep it a secret." Willow replied, "I was just waiting for you to find out on your own, and you did the very next day."

Jonathan glanced back at his computer monitor, "Well, luckily it's not a horrible malfunction. I can fix it, but he has to stay here until I can locate the problem. Is that alright, Wall-E?"

He nodded.

"Can I stay here with him?" Willow asked.

EVE sighed, "We had target practice today."

"I know, but I don't want to do that today..."

"Ugh, fine. Comm me if something happens, will you Jon?"

"Sure thing."

Willow watched as Jonathan scanned over WALL-E and a hologram image appeared before him, showing him the whole problem. WALL-E's old garbage-compactors had crumpled, leaving him disfigured and squashed on the inside. He'd had to expose this when he opened his solar panels and that's how EVE discovered it.

Willow was the first to speak again, "Dad? Why didn't you want us to know?"

He shook his head, "I don't know...I guess I just reverted back to old habits..."

"What do you mean? 'Old habits'?"

"Yeah...you see, remember how I told you I spent seven hundred years all by myself?"

"Uh huh..."

"Well, this has happened before. I break, and I get a replacement. It was always an arm or an eye, or a wheel. No big deal, right? Whenever I broke, I fixed it myself, because I had no one else to help me."

"But you _have_ friends now!" Willow pointed out, "Why did you still hide it?"

WALL-E couldn't answer that at first. He had to think about that for awhile.

Finally, he sighed softly, "Because...I didn't want you to worry about me...I didn't think it was a big deal at the time...a garbage truck broke and toppled over in a street too narrow for the Wall-As, so I offered to help out..." he frowned while Jonathan continued to type away, "...heh...I guess my compactors rusted over and cracked from underuse..."

"Okay..." Jonathan finally finished his typing, "It looks like the damage isn't too serious. Is it alright if I fix it here in the lab?"

"Yeah, that's fine." WALL-E replied.

Willow held her father's hand as Jonathan pulled out the crumpled compactors and replaced them with new ones, inserting new supports for WALL-E's battery and other components. Once the damage was fixed, WALL-E wheeled out of the lab, still hand-in-hand with Willow.

"Whew...glad _that's_ over..."

"Do repairs hurt or something?" Willow asked.

"No, it's just uncomfortable." he explained.

"Is that why your display is still cracked?"

"Kind of."

"Hm..." Willow kicked a rock on the pavement, "That's where Auto shocked you, right?"

"You like to ask questions, huh?"

"Just tell me!"

"Yes, that was it."

They made conversation like this until they caught up with EVE again.


	8. A Mother's Job

"Here, hold like this, and then jerk back."

"That's what I was doing!"

Willow tried to aim again, but she couldn't seem to hit her mark no matter how she adjusted. EVE was trying to help her with target practice, but it wasn't really helping.

In fact, she was really getting on Willow's nerves.

"No, it should be held still-!"

"How can I hold it still and if I have to jerk back to shoot!?"

"Here, keep the barrel on your line of sight."

"I'm trying!"

"You're looking at the gun, you have to look at the target!"

"I'M TRYING!" she shot involuntarily, hitting the wall to the left.

"Watch where you shoot that thing!" Ruby hollered.

"Sorry!" Willow sheathed her weapon.

"Let's try again."

"No! I'm sick of this! I don't want to shoot anymore!"

"Willow-!"

"Don't make me do this anymore!" Willow pleaded, "Please, Mom?"

"I can't do that." EVE said, "This is a valuable skill!"

"To who!? Who wants me to know how to shoot out of a stupid gun!?"

"Willow, listen to me-!"

"No! I'm sick of this! I quit!" Willow sped away.

"Willow!" EVE chased after her, her eyes widening in realization, "WAIT! IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO THAT WAY!"

Willow didn't hear as she darted around a corner. She could never outrun her mother, but maybe she could hide until she moved on.

"Willow!" EVE called, "Willow! Please come out! I'm sorry! We can stop for today! I'll let you go home to your father! Just please come out!"

 _Please don't find me, please don't find me, please don't find me..._ Willow found herself whispering in Binary. She always seemed to default to that when she wasn't thinking about it. Finally, EVE's frantic calls faded and Willow stepped out. Well, she could get home from here.

"Well well...what do we have here?"

"Huh?" Willow found her arms pinned to her sides as she flew into the air.

"It's the daughter of those esteemed idiots from the Axiom!" a gruff voice spoke to a few others and they laughed haughtily.

"H-hey! Put me down!"

"I'm sure they'd pay a hefty reward for her return, won't they, boys?"

"Let me go!" Willow struggled against the muscular arms.

"Or what, you'll get crushed in the holo-detector?"

She was stunned into silence. That was very traumatizing for both her parents, and they were using it as a taunt?

"Let me go!" she resumed her struggling.

"Let's go, boys!"

She got an idea. She cocked her weapon and shot it.

"AHHH!"

She was dropped, so she jumped up and bolted as fast as she could go.

"GET THAT ROBOT!"

She sped away, turning corners to hopefully outrun those lunatics. She found she had hit a brick wall, so she jumped up high and grabbed the second-story window (Willow could jump that high because she has thrusters like EVE, they just aren't powerful enough to carry her all the time).

"Where did she go!?"

They caught up to her already!? She looked around frantically for something she could jump to but realized she had backed herself into a corner.

 _Oh no..._ Willow swiveled her head backwards to look down at the gang chasing her.

"Where do you think you're going!?" the head guy shouted, "Get down here!"

Her hand slipped, "Ack!"

"That's right...come to papa..."

"Nonononooo!" she was suddenly falling, "NO!"

She was swept up and set down on top of a shorter building some distance away.

"What!?"

"That's my daughter, you heathens!"

"Mom!"

"It's the plant probe!"

EVE pulled her cannon on them, "Get out before I kill all of you!"

"Let's go, boys. Her weapon will kill us before we can do anything."

They shuffled off as EVE put her weapon away. She rushed to inspect her daughter, "Willow! Are you okay!? Are you hurt anywhere!?"

"N-no, I-I'm fine..." she couldn't keep the jittering out of her voice, "I-I'm sorry for running away..."

"Don't be. I'm sorry you got so frustrated." EVE frowned sadly.

"Um...thanks for saving me, Mom..."

"Of course." EVE picked her up, "Do you want to go home?"

"No. Take me back, I want to try again."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Please?"

"Alright." EVE admired her determination, "Let's go."


	9. Letting Her Go

"Dad!"

"Hm?" WALL-E put his rubix cube back on the shelf, "What's wrong, Willow?"

"My arm!" Willow dropped her right arm, "It won't hover anymore!" she tried putting it back, but it just fell again.

"Oh, I have the parts..." WALL-E spun the multiple shelves in the truck until it landed on all the replacement parts he would need for himself and his daughter. He took a Willow arm from the stockpile, "Hold still." he put it in the empty socket where her arm once sat and it hummed to life. She brought it out and extended the fingers.

"Now what happened?"

"What?"

"Your arm didn't just fall off. What was it this time?"

"Ugh. You can't help my adventurous spirit, Dad."

"It's going to get you killed one day." he said off-handedly, going back to the rubix cube.

"It was Ruby."

"Isn't it always?"

"She was trying to tweak her weapon but something flew out of it and got lodged in my shoulder. My arm wouldn't hover after that."

"Doesn't she tell you to stay out of her way when she does that?"

"I wasn't in her way!"

"Whatever..." WALL-E huffed, setting the cube aside, "I give up. Your mother can solve that in four seconds, but I can't even get one color right."

"Um, so Dad?"

"What?"

"The rogues were gonna go skydiving tomorrow. Can I go with them?"

"Absolutely not!" he scolded, "You could be killed!"

"But it looks sooo fun!"

"No! I don't want you to turn into a pile of scrap on the pavement! It's too dangerous!"

"They have harnesses! They have high-tech safety protection!"

"You stepped into Ruby's lab and lost an arm!"

"I was in the hall! And anyway, Mom is going to be there! So even if the tech fails - which it won't - there's no chance _she_ would, right?"

"I can't let you do that!" WALL-E said firmly, "I won't let you go!"

"That isn't fair! Why do you do this _every single time!?"_

"I've already lost one child!" WALL-E choked, "I'm not losing another..."

Willow's eyes widened before they narrowed again, "Fine. Have it your way." then she wheeled away.

OOO

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yeah? Is something wrong?"

Willow had gone all the way to the shooting range to talk to her mom. Rio's shots rang out some ways away while Ruby was still adding upgrades to her right arm.

"Dad won't let me go skydiving." Willow explained.

"Yeah, I figured he wouldn't." EVE crossed her arms, "He can be stubborn, you know. He does whatever he believes will keep everyone else safe, even giving up his own safety for the sake of others...ah...I love him...you know, there was this one time-!"

"Mom!"

"Sorry..." EVE shook her head, "Here, let me talk to him. Maybe I can change his mind."

"Thanks, Mom! Good luck with that though. He was pretty firm when I left."

"It'll be fine. I've got the perfect plan."

OOO

"No."

"But it's perfectly-!"

"No."

"But they've got-!"

"No."

"Wall-E!"

"I'm not changing my mind about this."

WALL-E was passively going through his things again while EVE tried to reason with him. So far it was pretty unsuccessful.

"Ugh! You're so annoying when you're like this!"

"I won't be able to sleep at night if my daughter's jumping off of buildings." he said, "The answer is no."

EVE shrugged at Willow apologetically.

"I know it's _technically_ safe, but it scares me." WALL-E said, "And that is the end of the conversation."

"Sometimes I miss the times when you couldn't talk back to me!" EVE said in annoyance.

"Hey. You're not the one who got updated drivers and speech-therapy." he replied.

"This is my choice!" Willow snapped suddenly, "Why are you allowed to dictate everything I do!?"

WALL-E froze.

"She's right, Babe." EVE said, "It may scare you, but it's not fair to tell her she can't do something because you don't like it."

WALL-E put what he was holding back on the shelf, still stiff.

"Dad, should I go tell Ruby to stop shooting because I don't like shooting?"

"I get it!" he exclaimed, "Look, I don't want anyone to be jumping off of buildings, but at least Willow is under my roof. I just thought that would be one thing I could be at ease about..."

"Wall-E." EVE held his hand, "It's okay. You can let her go."

He was quiet as he laced his fingers in EVE's. Willow always liked how that looked, with pearly white on rusty gray.

"Fine." WALL-E gave in, "You can go."

"Yay!" Willow hugged her father, "Thanks, Dad!"

"Ugh...don't push it, Sweetie..."

EVE giggled, "Good job, Wall-E. Maybe next week you could do it with us!"

"NO!"

The girls laughed.

"Eep! I can't wait!" Willow buried her head underneath WALL-E's optics, something she knew he liked.

"Okay, that's enough. Don't make me regret changing my mind."

"You already regret it." Willow said flatly.

"Eh..." he returned his daughter's hug, "Okay, you're right."


	10. Admiration

"Hey Aunt Ruby?"

Ruby adjusted her weapon again, "Yeah?"

"How do you do that so easily?" Willow swung her treads back and forth, "Why is it so easy for you?"

"I was built to destroy." she replied, shooting again, "Whew. It's just something I enjoy, even though I don't really need my weapon these days."

Willow watched more plasma-bullets fly before Ruby inserted a new energy pack.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing, kid." Ruby shot again.

"Mom told me you're really violent. Why are you so nice to me?"

"Oh, that's easy." she made another adjustment, "I'm very fond of your father, so of course I'd be attached to his spawn too."

"Spawn?"

"Eh...don't repeat that to your mother..." Ruby did some more shooting.

"What did he do to earn so much respect from you?" Willow asked.

"Heh..." Ruby unhooked her arm and laid it down on the workbench, "He freed me..."

"He freed you? From what?"

"From Forthright..." Ruby did some more tweaking, "My creator. She made me believe that I liked being evil. I was going to kill Wall-E, but he offered to be my friend. I just...I couldn't hurt him after that..."

"Oh..." Willow smiled, "That does sound like my dad!"

"He was the first being to ever show me kindness..." Willow caught a rare softness in Ruby's eyes that wasn't normally there, "I owe him everything..."

"I guess it's good you didn't kill him, or I wouldn't be here right now!"

"Very true." Ruby reattached her arm, but then she put the massive weapon away, "Hey Wil, I just got an idea."

"What idea?"

"Come here." Ruby held out her hand until she got a hold of Willow's right arm, "I'm gonna make a small adjustment to your laser cannon. Is that okay?"

"What adjustment?"

"I'm going to turn down the power." she replied, "It'll make it easier to aim."

"Really!? Oh, thank goodness."

"So I can?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Willow unsheathed her little ion cannon and Ruby stuck a screwdriver into it, turning a tiny dial just a little bit. It stung just a little bit.

"Now try shooting." Ruby said.

Willow aimed the weapon and jerked her arm so a small bullet came out. It made the smallest burn on the nearest target, but it worked!

"I can aim!" Willow beamed.

"Awesome. I'll turn the power up again once you get the hang of it."

"Thanks, Aunt Ruby!"

"Don't mention it, kid." Ruby gave her a pat on the head, "Your folks'll be impressed, I'm sure."

"Yes!" Willow sheathed her tiny weapon, "I'll be right back."

"Where're you going?"

"Just...somewhere..." she wheeled off completely inconspicuously.

She found her dad at his truck, giving him a big bear hug.

"Whoa!" he returned it, "You okay, Wil?"

"I love you, Dad..." she replied simply.

He didn't get it, but he held her anyway, "I love you too..."


	11. Shadow Puppets

Willow sat in her aunt and uncle's house, flipping through their old video cassettes. She was curious about what was on each one, and she had nothing better to do, so...

"Old stuff?" her Aunt Aya asked.

"Yeah. I don't recognize most of these." Willow sat back, "What's this one?"

"That one's called 'It's a Wonderful Life'. A true classic."

"It looks kinda cool, I guess." Willow grabbed another, "And this one?"

"Ah, El Derado. I like that one a lot."

"You have a copy of Hello, Dolly!? Ugh! I get enough of that movie at home!"

Aya smiled, "Yeah. We don't really watch that movie here."

"Oh thank goodness..."

"Open up!" a banging came at the door, "This is the police!"

"What!?"

They broke in anyway, "There she is! Get her!"

"ACK! Let go of me!" Willow struggled against them.

"Wait! There must be a mistake-!"

"There's no mistake. Come with us, Willow."

"Aya! Get my mom! She'll know what to do!"

"I got it!"

Willow was shoved into the back of a police car and locked inside. She pushed against the door uselessly. If only Aunt Ruby was with her. She's good at picking locks. The police car made it down the street before EVE saw her daughter in the car and knocked on the front window. The cop rolled his eyes before he stopped at the station and got out.

"What's going on here?"

"Miss Eve Number One, I'm afraid your daughter's committed a felony. She'll have to stay with us until we can sort that out."

"What? What felony?"

"She stole personal files and leaked them onto public servers. That is a serious crime that carries a prison sentence of at least six months."

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe that."

"Excuse me?"

"My daughter wouldn't steal anything! There has to be a mistake."

"Sorry, but we have security camera footage of the whole thing."

"No you don't."

"Um, yes we do." the cop said seriously, "I knew it was a bad idea to let robots into normal society..."

"It's so easy these days to forge footage. Can I look at the footage? I can tell if it's real or fake."

"Sorry Miss-"

"I'm married."

"-but I'm afraid that simply isn't possible."

Let's see...Willow ducked under the window of the car door and stuck her pinky finger into the lock. Twist here, yank there, how did Ruby do it again? Finally, the lock released and Willow snuck out while EVE was still distracting the police man.

She got a glimpse of a newspaper in the breeze, a picture of her on the front page. Yeesh, who was impersonating her?

"Willow?"

She jumped, "Dad! Oh, you scared me..."

"Sorry..." WALL-E caught up to her, "What happened?"

"I'm being accused of a crime I didn't commit."

"Well yeah, I got that much, but I could've sworn I just saw you here..."

She blinked, "What?" she swiveled her optics around. There seemed to be shadows with her silhouette lurking around. She shrunk closer to her father, "Wh-What are those?"

"I don't know, but I think we should get out of here...right, now!"

They bolted just as the shadows grabbed Willow, seeming to swallow her whole, "DAD!"

"No! WILLOW!" he grabbed her, "Give her back! GIVE HER BACK!"

"DADDY! HELP ME!"

"I'm trying!" he felt her slip away and began to scream, "HELP! SOMEONE HELP US, PLEASE!"

The shadows dissolved suddenly and Willow fell on top of WALL-E, "Oof! Oh, you're safe..." he hugged Willow close to himself, crying in relief.

"That was close." EVE remarked, holding a flashlight.

"Mom!" Willow helped her father stand, "You saved me!"

"Luckily. I noticed you were gone, so I went after you. Good thing I picked this up earlier." she clicked the flashlight a few times.

"Are those literal shadows?" Willow looked around her, "Whoa. Talk about creepy."

"That doesn't make sense." EVE said, "How can shadows be alive?"

"Oh! I know!" Willow realized, "I forgot! Fletcher did an experiment with a liquid vortex. I guess they took my likeness when it exploded."

"What?" EVE rubbed her forehead, "Why didn't you tell us about that?"

"He asked me not to."

"Of course..." EVE took a deep agonizing simulated breath, "Let's explain this to the police. I'm sure they'd understand once we get Fletcher involved."

Willow couldn't help herself from laughing, "Too bad for him!"

"And you too." EVE rolled her eyes, dispelling the shadows around them again, "Come on. I'll clear a path."


	12. What Am I Good At?

Willow listened to the music box, again and again. It was such a lovely tune. What was this one called again? Mary Did You Know? It was some kind of Christmas song, she knew that much.

"You ready to go, Willow?" WALL-E asked.

"You bet I am!" Willow packed the box and swung the carrier over her back, "Let's go find some new old stuff!"

One cool thing about humanity only covering the area around New York and Yonkers was that everything outside was still untouched. WALL-E was careful not to go out too far, and Willow knew to stick close to him, so as long as they didn't wander too much, they would be fine. Either way, WALL-E knew the dangers of being out here, and he made sure Willow knew it too.

"You remember what to do if your distress signal goes off?"

"Yeah, look around for sandstorms and find shelter."

"And if the sky becomes dark?"

"Look to see if it's rain. If it is, find shelter under something that isn't made of metal, and if it isn't, hold onto something rooted in the ground for safety."

"And if we get separated?"

"Ah...um..." Willow had to think about it, "Oh! I know! Find shelter and wait for you to come find me."

"Good girl. Okay, we're ready."

He went through this protocol every time they went treasure hunting, just to make sure she was prepared. It was all learned from 700 years of living here, so he wanted to make sure his daughter didn't learn the hard way like he was forced to. Hal wandered around some ways away, just kind of tagging along.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Why is Hal still alive?"

He had to turn to her, "What?"

"Cockroaches can only live for three years, right? He's been around for at least fifty."

"Uh..." he looked from the roach to her, "I don't know. Nuclear radiation?"

"Dad..."

"Come on, you're smiling."

"I know..." she shook her head, "Let's just start looking."

"Oh yeah." WALL-E scanned the area with his eyes, "Don't wander too far, okay?"

"I won't."

So WALL-E went to look for things while Willow went to a different pile of garbage to sift through. She couldn't compact garbage like her father, but she could at least make them into neat cubes to set them aside. She heard WALL-E turn on his music recorder and "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" came on. She could feel her eyes rolling on their screen.

"Dad, why do you always play that song?"

"Cuz I like it." he replied, "Is that bad?"

"I know, I like it too, but...haven't you ever thought to play something else for once?"

"I don't know. I didn't have any kind of awareness for four hundred years."

"I know, you've told me that story a thousand times." Willow found something to inspect, "I just wish you had more songs to play."

"Hmmm..." WALL-E played "It Only Takes A Moment" instead, "Is this better?"

Well, it was something different, "Sure." Willow found a magazine in the garbage, like the ones her Uncle Nos had in his room, "This song always makes me think of Mom."

WALL-E sighed, "It does for me too..."

Willow giggled. Her parents were such hopeless romantics. She found something else just then that made her stop. An old energy capsule.

 _"Fletcher, why do you always bite those?"_

 _"Because if I didn't, I would die." he replied, "You wouldn't want me to die, would you?"_

 _"Of course not! I was just curious."_

It made her mind wander.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Why am I not as strong as Fletcher?"

WALL-E put down what he was examining, "What do you mean, Wil?"

"Well, I mean..." she rephrased her question, "Why is Fletcher so much stronger than me? He's bigger, faster, more agile. He's growing, too! I've never grown at all..."

"So?" WALL-E wheeled over to her, "Robots aren't really supposed to grow. The only reason Fletcher does is because he's full of nano-robots. Those can be really painful if you're not an energy vampire."

She shook her head, "I know that much...I just...I love doing things outside, but he always has to let me win. I can tell. I can never win when he's really trying..."

"Heh...I may be to blame for that... _I'm_ certainly not as strong as your cousin, I'll tell you that much."

"Dad..."

"Hey, all I'm saying is my code is in you, but does that make you any less than Fletcher?"

She sighed, "No..."

"Exactly. Everyone has weaknesses, that happens to be one of yours."

"But what am I good at? Am I really good at anything?"

"Of course you are. Where do you think those paintings on the side of the truck came from?"

"But they aren't really good..."

"Aren't really good? I'd say it could rival Van Gogh. It's a brilliant display of impressionism."

"It's just color."

"You mean like how Hal is just a cockroach?" said cockroach climbed up onto WALL-E's body, ruffling his wings.

"Heheh...I suppose so..."

"And what about all those times Rio got a goodnight's sleep because you sang for her? Or when Fletcher couldn't figure his homework out so you tutored him? What about when you played basketball with that little girl in a wheelchair? Or when you shared your lovely treasures with the boy who had Autism?"

Willow laughed, "Okay, I get it. I'm a special snowflake!"

"There ya go!" WALL-E rubbed her back, "See? Don't focus on the negative, it only makes you sad, because there's plenty of things you excel at, okay?"

"Mmhm!" Willow beamed.

"That's my girl. Now what did you find?"

"Hm? Oh! Right!" she went through what she had come across, "Do you know what this is?"


	13. Sheltered

Willow shivered under the roof of her parent's truck, "What's going on outside!? Why are we trapped!?"

"Calm down, Sweetheart. It's just a thunderstorm." EVE had an arm around her daughter, "They happen all the time here on Earth, it's nothing to be scared of."

"B-but it's so bright!" Willow was only 3 years old, so storms were new to her, "Anything that bright has to be dangerous!"

"Wil, it's only dangerous if weee're outside." WALL-E slurred his words only slightly as he soothed her, "That lightning can't hurt us from in heeere."

"But it's so loud and scaaary!" Willow screamed as another hot flash exploded against the sky. Her head pressed down on her body as she trembled violently, "I don't like it! I'm scared!"

EVE and WALL-E frowned at each other. At least the hole in the roof had been repaired, so only some light and rainwater seeped in from outside through various cracks in the metal among the white Christmas lights that illuminated their humble home.

EVE got an idea just then, "Willow, do you know why that rain falls from the sky?"

Willow was a bit taken aback by the question, but she decided to answer honestly, "Nooo...I never thought to ask..."

"Well..." EVE let a smile cross her visor, "The clouds above us are made of excited water particles that are too hot to stay in a liquid state. When the water clumps together, too cold to remain in a gaseous state, that's when it falls from the sky as particles of liquid water."

Another clap of thunder sounded, but Willow's flinch this time wasn't as violent, "Whooo..." she cooed in amazement, "So why does that lightning happen? Why is it sooo loud?"

"Because the particles up there sometimes get so excited that it generates energy." EVE explained, "It sparks out of the sky and shoves the air back, which is what makes the loud noise."

Willow let her arms hover in front of her body, clasping her hands together.

"Is it as scaaary now?" WALL-E asked.

"N-no..." Willow looked around, "I guess not."

"Maybe you were only scared because you didn't understand it." EVE offered, "Thunderstorms can be dangerous, but as long as we take precautions, we'll be just fine."

"But wait! If the rain is cold enough to be liquid, then how can the lightning form at all?" Willow exclaimed, "Isn't electricity super hot!?"

EVE let her eyelids fall, "That's a good question, actually. I think the energy is only super-heated in the center of the blast. Everything else around the core is really cold."

"Cold..." Willow took each of her parent's hands, her expression turning somber, "Is Eric okay?"

EVE and WALL-E tensed.

"Wh-what do you mean?" EVE stammered.

"He's outside, in that grave." she explained innocently, "Isn't he cold? Isn't he scared of the storm like me? Is he dry enough?"

EVE didn't know how to answer. Did Willow genuinely not know what it meant to be dead? Did she actually believe that her brother was stuck under the ground, cold and scared and alone?

EVE thought she was going to cry.

"He's just fiiine." WALL-E stepped in calmly, "You see, Eric isn't in that grave; he's here, in our heeearts." he smiled softly, "As long as we remember him, he will never go away. Okaaay?"

Willow smiled warmly, "Okay, Daddy."

EVE snuggled against both of them as more thunder sounded outside. They were all safe and sound, together in their little truck.

EVE gave WALL-E a kiss over Willow's head, "Thanks, Baby..."

He gave a subtle nod, "You're welcome, Eve..."

It wasn't long before the storm subsided, and they were able to emerge into the gray light of the cloudy sky.


	14. Just Let Her Vent

"V-GR!"

V-Gr Flinched, his hands over the keyboard of his space pod's control panel. Willow was home from work early.

"You would not believe this!" her eyes had shifted from brown to bright red, "Some old man tried to get me fired!"

Cobalt listened from his room. He'd never heard his mother shout before in the 4 months he'd been online. It scared him.

"What happened?" V-Gr closed what he'd been working on, turning his full attention to his girlfriend.

"He told me he wanted an assortment of daisies, but he didn't tell me he was allergic!" she was screaming, her face heated so much it showed on her face, "And then he blamed it on me! I should've known, he said! You've ruined my face he said! I can't breathe he said! He tried to call my manager and tell me I almost _killed_ him! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I was so sure I would be canned!"

Cobalt shrank. Why wasn't V-Gr doing anything? Why was he just letting Willow scream at him? Every once in awhile, he would make a small comment between her outbursts like, "I see." or "How awful." but otherwise he didn't speak. He was completely calm, his eyes a placid shade of white, and the whole time Willow was shouting at him, he kept a stern look in his eyes, but his mouth was a small, patient frown.

Why didn't he fight back?

Finally, Willow lowered her voice a bit, "He just-! I can't believe him! I can't believe he almost succeeded! What have I ever done to him!? I'd never seen him before in my life!"

V-GR nodded, "What a bigot."

"Ugh!" Willow rubbed the sides of her head, "I need a nap..."

"Mkay."

She slammed the door _hard. H_ ard enough to rattle the whole pod.

When Cobalt was sure she was gone, he came out of his room, "D-Daddy?"

"Oh!" V-GR's eyes darkened to red, "Did you hear all of that? I'm sorry, Coby..."

"Why did you do that?" Cobalt hovered from his bedroom door, "Why did you let her yell at you?"

"Oh, well..." V-GR exhaled, "Because...she just needed to vent."

Cobalt tilted his head to the side, "Vent?"

"She was angry and frustrated, so she yelled at someone she trusts." he explained, "She's been doing it for years, it's no big deal."

"It _sounds_ like one..." Cobalt frowned, "Isn't that unhealthy?"

"Sure it is, but it's better than bottling it up and never letting it out." V-GR knelt down so he was at eye-level with his son, "She's already seeking help for her short-temper. There's no need to make it worse."

"How can you stay so calm!?" Cobalt tried not to shake, but since he was so young, it was literally the worst experience he'd ever been through, "She was screaming at you, and you _let_ her! You didn't _do_ anything!"

"Because anything I tried to say would've just made it worse." V-GR placed his hand on Cobalt's cheek, "Shhh...it's okay...I'm just used to it by now, you'll be used to it too..."

"A-are you..." Cobalt sniffed, burying his face in V-GR's outstretched hand, "Are you gonna t-talk to her...?"

"Hey, don't cry!" V-GR pulled him into a hug, "Shhh...don't worry about it, okay? She'll be back to normal in no time, you'll see!" he sat back on his knees, rubbing circles into Cobalt's back, "Shhh...I'll knock on her door, and if she doesn't answer, then I'll wait a little longer. If she tells me to come in, then I'll go inside. See? It's fine, everything will be just fine..."

Cobalt's hands were fists behind V-GR's back, "...will she ever yell at me...?"

"What!? No! _No!"_ V-GR pulled back, "Cobalt, she's not going to yell at you! I promise! If she ever yells at you, then I'll eat my words!" V-GR laughed without any humor, "She only yells at me because she knows I'll get it. When she looks at you, all she sees is someone she gave everything for. Okay? She'll _never_ yell at you. I. Swear."

Cobalt squeezed his eyes shut.

"Hey..." V-GR took both his son's cheeks in his hands, "Repeat after me. Okay?"

Cobalt nodded.

"I'm fine."

"I'm f-fine..."

"I'm safe."

"I'm safe..."

"And this isn't a big deal."

"A-and..." he choked.

V-GR was patient, "Say it."

"U-um..." he gulped, "And this isn't a big deal..."

V-GR stood up, "Good."

"I'm fine, I'm safe, and this isn't a big deal..." Cobalt repeated, "I'm fine, I'm safe, and this isn't a big deal..."

"Watch me, okay?" V-GR slid towards the bedroom door, "I think it's been long enough..."

Cobalt shrunk back.

He knocked two times.

At first there was no sound, so V-GR made to walk away.

 _"C-come in..."_

V-GR sighed in relief. Casting a glance at Cobalt while he put a finger to his lips, he slid the door open.

Willow was curled up in a tight ball, her eyes back to their usual brown color. She was sad.

"Hey, Baby." V-GR lay on the bed next to her, "Feeling better?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Willow, we've been over this." V-GR shook her shoulder, "You've been really good! You haven't yelled at me for more than a year! That's progress!"

"Shut up!" Willow hid her face from him, "You never make me angry, and yet I always vent to you...why do you keep putting up with me!?"

V-GR let himself smile, "Because I love you." he pulled her arm gently until she turned to face him, "Listen to me, okay? You need to let it out on someone, it might as well be me."

"How can you stay so calm!?" Willow buried her face in the pillow, "Don't I ever scare you?"

"Ah, um..." V-GR bit his lip as he thought, "...you...did at first. I called your dad that first time, and he told me what to do."

"M-my dad...?" Willow looked into his eyes, her frown deepening, "I'm so sorry, I just...my temper is so bad! I hate it! I wish I could control it!"

"Hey." V-GR wrapped his arms around her, "You accepted me. You nearly got yourself killed because you love me. You risked everything for me. I think I can stand to be the shouting dummy every once in awhile." he kissed her screen, "Mm. I have never, 'put up with you'. I love everything about you, including your refusal to take things sitting down."

"I don't like yelling at people!"

"And one day, you no longer will." V-GR brushed his fingers over Willow's cheeks, "You're assertive, not aggressive. I can tell."

"Ah...stop..." Willow couldn't help but smile.

V-GR laughed, "You are so cute!"

"No I'm _not!"_

"Hahaha! See, Coby?" V-GR rolled over, "She's calm now!"

"Coby!" Willow jumped out of the bed, rushing over to her son, "I'm so sorry...I hope I never yell like that again..."

Cobalt searched her eyes for the rage that he saw before, but every trace of it was gone, replaced with genuine worry and regret and sorrow.

"I-It's okay, Mama." Cobalt rubbed his eyes.

"I will never yell at you! I promise!" Willow grabbed his hands, "I'm so sooo sorry!"

Cobalt hugged her, "Thank you. It's okay, really. It just scared me a little, but I'm okay!"

V-GR hugged both of them, "There you go! Hey Cobalt, what did I tell you before?"

"Huh?" he scrambled for the words, "I-I'm fine, I'm safe, and this isn't a big deal."

"Good." V-GR said to him.

"I won't hurt you, okay Coby?" Willow said, "I promise."

And she would hold that promise.

* * *

 **Thank you guys so much for the reviews that boosted my motivation enough to update this again! All three of you! It really means a lot to me! ;u;**


	15. Day One

Willow let herself be carried across the city. It was so lively, she couldn't look at everything at the same time! Her head swiveled everywhere, trying to look at everything, trying to see everything around her.

"Haha!" EVE pressed a finger to her daughter's screen, "You're not even a day old yet! You'll have time to see everything!"

As EVE carried Willow, people stopped to say hi, congratulating WALL-E and EVE on their new family member. Willow always tried to grab at them, her fingers clumsy and imprecise. Whenever someone would press a thumb to Willow's palm, she grabbed it without realizing she was, fascinated by how her hands moved, how her fingers hovered above her arm, how her fingers were grey and her arm was striped with orange and white. She had never seen anything like it before, she had never seen anything before, everything was so new and bright and colorful, it was incredible!

"If you keep looking around like that, you're head'll fall off!" EVE giggled, "We're almost home, okay Willow?"

Willow loved hearing the sound of her own name. She was beginning to associate it with herself, and it made her happy. She cooed at EVE, a soft series of beeping and roboting warbling.

"Aw!" EVE nuzzled her lovingly, "You are just so cute!"

She liked the word "cute" too. She wasn't sure exactly what it meant, but she was thinking it had something to do with being sweet and precious. She liked being cute, it made people smile and laugh at things she did. She liked the attention a lot.

"Hooold?" WALL-E asked.

"Oh, okay." EVE handed her over, "I guess I can't keep her all to myself!"

WALL-E gazed into Willow's eyes, trailing his thumb on her cheek, "Perrrfeeect..."

He'd been calling her that for awhile now, he wouldn't stop. Willow took it as something endearing, since he always said it softly and sweetly.

"She _is_ perfect, isn't she?" EVE reached for the door handle, "Do you think she'll like it?"

WALL-E nodded, gesturing to Willow, who was still craning her neck to see everything.

"That's true, there's a lot to look at..." EVE pulled the lever, and the door came down, "Okay, Willow. Welcome home!"

The inside was dark, and kind of underwhelming. She'd been curious when the door came down, but now it was just hard to see. She went back to looking up and around.

WALL-E and EVE seemed disappointed.

"Oh! I know!" EVE went inside and turned on all the Christmas lights.

Willow's eyes fell inside, and her circular brown eyes widened to tall ovals. It had been too dark previously, but now the soft colorful lights bounced off every tiny object, including EVE. It was so beautiful, Willow couldn't tear her eyes away.

WALL-E smiled.

"Heheh, it worked on me." EVE took WALL-E's free hand, looking right into Willow's eyes, "Do you wanna see inside? Huh? Do you like all the pretty lights?"

Willow cooed at her. She _really_ wanted to see inside.

"Let's go." she and WALL-E took her inside, still hand-in-hand. Willow kept looking straight ahead, but once they were past the door, she began craning her neck around again, trying to see all the objects in the room, trying to look at every single tiny light in the whole truck.

WALL-E laughed, "Dooown?"

Willow scrambled to hold on. She did _not_ want down.

"Come on, Willow." EVE took her head in her hands, "You can walk, you just don't want to."

Willow stared at the floor, clearly intimidated.

"Here." EVE took Willow's hands, "It's okay. I won't let go."

Willow still didn't want to.

WALL-E adjusted his hands so he was holding her around her middle. Willow looked down at the floor, watching her treads dangle.

EVE looked into her eyes, "Ready?"

Willow tightened her grip on her mom's hands, but she didn't protest.

"Okay. Set her down, Wall-E."

He did, slowly, until Willow's black treads rested against the metal floor of the truck. WALL-E backed away a bit, but his hands were still out. EVE carefully led her forward, just a few inches.

She felt her treads slid her back, but EVE caught her before she fell flat on her back. Willow whimpered, shaking in fear.

"It's okay! I've got you." EVE pulled her upright.

Willow had three moving parts in both her treads, and she didn't yet grasp that two of them were supposed to stay on the floor while the third pulled the treads up so they weren't loose. Instead, only one stayed on the floor while the other two pulled too tight or too loose in any given direction, or all three were on the floor and she was just standing in a pool of loose tread that wouldn't cooperate with her, or none of them were on the floor and her body would sit on the floor not supported by anything and she couldn't move anywhere-!

"Willow, listen to me."

She looked up at her mother.

"It's okay." she said, "I've got you, remember? And I won't let go until you tell me to. I'm going to hold on until you've got it, so calm down. You aren't in any danger."

Willow fell down again, straight down. It just wasn't right! How could this even work!? Why not just give her four wheels!?

"Wiiillllooow..." WALL-E placed one hand on her back, "Brrreeeeathe..."

Breathe? Why? It didn't do anything, they were robots. She realized he meant through a speaker. She hushed through it, like she was exhaling, then sucked in, like an inhale. It wasn't breathing, but there wasn't another word for it...

And it made her calm.

"Ooo..." Willow tried "breathing" again. Was this calming to humans too?

"Good thinking, Wall-E." EVE helped Willow stand again, "Feeling better? You can do it! I know you can!" EVE held her hands tighter, "I believe in you."

"Beeelieeeve!" WALL-E agreed.

Now that Willow could think, she realized she knew how her treads worked. It was in her program, they were designed like this. Suddenly, walking on her own didn't seem so scary.

She straightened out, two parts on the floor, one part by each of her sides. Her grip on EVE's hands loosened, and she began to wheel back and forth.

"There you go!" EVE didn't let go, but Willow pushed her aside, "You're doing it! Look at you!"

WALL-E took one of her daughter's hands and spun her around in a circle. Willow giggled, a sugar-sweet sound.

"You did it! I knew you could!" EVE picked her up and planted a spark on the top of her head, "I'm so proud of you!"

Willow liked this. Surly, learning how to walk was no real accomplishment, and yet EVE was fawning over her like she'd just climbed a mountain. WALL-E took his child back and nuzzled her too, "Proooud!"

Willow smiled, "Daaaaddy..."

EVE's smile fell, "Hm..."

WALL-E beeped to get her attention, then he nodded with a smile.

"Alright, I get it." she said, "She'll say 'Mama' one day."

WALL-E nodded again. Willow was so happy about her accomplishment, but it had been EVE who held her hands. WALL-E shouldn't get _all_ the credit.

Willow enunciated carefully, leaving WALL-E speechless and EVE bounding around the truck excitedly;

"Maaama."


	16. Fragile Minds

Willow nearly slammed the door of her house shut. No matter what she did, she never seemed to be able to have a good day anymore. Every little thing ate at her nerves until she wanted to tear all her cables out so the endless thoughts would stop. It was like the world crashed at every detail.

Why was she so irritable!?

Willow sighed, dropping off her lunch box at the door and heading for the sliding glass door in the back. It had been almost 5,000 years since the Axiom first landed on Earth, and all that time was taking its toll. Sure, much progress had been made, but with the world's constant changing, nothing was bound to last.

Willow slid into the off-door that had been carved into WALL-E's truck. He was watching Hello, Dolly! as he usually did, and his eyes were glassy and vacant.

She sighed, "Hi, Dad..."

He blinked, turning toward her voice, "Heeey."

Willow closed the door behind her, making sure the latch had clicked, "How are you today?"

He seemed to struggle with his words, "Gooood."

Willow joined him in front of the movie, "Mom should be home in about fifteen minutes."

"Evah?" he seemed to perk at that.

"Yeah, yeah." she replied, "Evah."

It was getting harder and harder for WALL-E to properly process things, in fact, he wasn't allowed to leave the truck because when he saw how different everything was he would panic.

And then he would just forget the next day.

He could no longer form new memories, and the ones he already had were distant and flimsy. Nothing stuck. The only person he truly remembered was his wife, EVE, and even his memory of her had big gaps in it. Willow was grateful that he remembered her at all.

"Wiiillooow?" WALL-E asked in that voice Willow only barely recognized, "Gooo outsiiide?"

"No." she insisted, "Mom doesn't want you outside today. She has something planned for tomorrow."

It was, of course, a lie. Willow felt so bad about lying to him like that, but he didn't realize he was locked inside all the time. He never even tried to leave. Maybe a part of him knew - or maybe it was different enough from how it used to be that he didn't want to see outside. That was more likely.

This was the same question he asked every day. And that was her answer every day.

Willow took a moment to look around. It looked exactly the same since WALL-E started forgetting. Everything was in place, and if WALL-E happened to move something, EVE would move it back after he went to sleep. It was to ensure that he didn't panic from all the change he didn't remember. He was just stuck like this, in one day of his life over and over with no memory of it. Willow thought she'd go crazy if this kept up.

But he was still here.

He was alive.

That's all that mattered.

"Hey." EVE slipped into the side-door, the latch clicking into place, "I'm home."

"Evah!" WALL-E abandoned the movie to let her kiss him. It was the highlight of his one day every day.

"Hi, Mom." Willow greeted.

"Mm." EVE replied, her forehead against her husband's, "Any trouble today?"

"Nope. Like an angel." she replied.

"Thought so." EVE held both of WALL-E's hands, "Miss me?"

"Yeees." WALL-E swooned.

The three of them stayed there the rest of the day. Usually, Willow left sooner to be with her new family (with V-GR and Cobalt), but she wanted to stay this time instead. WALL-E rearranged some of his things while EVE memorized each deviation that she would have to undo. They watched the movie some more. They talked. It felt like before. Long before Willow had even met V-GR. It was just the three of them once again.

It felt nostalgic.

Willow finally yawned, "I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight, Mom. Dad."

"Goodnight, Willow." EVE turned the movie off and dimmed the lights, "Time to sleep, Baby..."

WALL-E drooped, tucking everything into his body and sliding into his shelf. EVE made sure he was asleep before putting all the objects back in their original spots. Then she entered stasis herself.

Willow reached for the latch. She didn't want to go back. She didn't want to go back to the future where she had friends and responsibilities and work. It was so much change. For once, she wanted time to stand still so she could stay in her nostalgia.

She wanted to be in the past a little longer.

So she wheeled over to her parents and fell asleep beside them. V-GR could stand one night without her.


End file.
